Any of us could live a lifetime on 40 million dollars and with good investments could have more than that when we died. But the discussion on these young bonus babies is always centered on the take the money and run mentality. Holmgren got a lot of cash because he was the number 2 pick but those lower in the pecking order don't get near that much and coming out early is a distinct hazzerd for them. A million dollar bonus might be big for most of us but a million dollars is minimum wage in the NBA. It is a whole different dynamic, Steph Curry makes over $40,000,000 a year, LeBron James is a billionaire.
I have watched a lot of phenoms leave school early, get drafted, get their bonus cash then languish on the bench for over a year before they are ready for big boy play. Some never get ready. While these young kids are still trying to find their ass with both hands, some senior that has led his team for 4 years might get drafted and be able to slot right in with a good team. Since the NBA is just a big meat market the better meat wins and the inexperienced phenom may not be worth the development effort. That is a partial explanation of why so many high draft choices get traded early in their careers. Some will tough it out and eventually realize their potential while others become nothing more than utility players and bench warmers.
It is a similar situation in football where many guys, especially quarterbacks, come out early just a year or two out of high school thinking they are ready for the NFL only to discover that an defensive lineman that weighs 328# can run as fast as they can. The hazards are just the same-leave college early before you are ready, get a lot of money in your early 20's and be out of a job before 30 with no education. These days rookies are getting better consul from their organizations but-like adults-some will never be able to manage money and once the bonus is gone will struggle.
Baseball does it better by not giving so much up front money and then making players earn their way into the bigs. If you can't make it in the minors you ain't goin' to the majors. But careers can be much longer in baseball and the sky is the limit in terms of compensation.
